By Lori Adler
Reporter
The gallery was full at Monday’s meeting of the Rhinelander common council with the majority of citizens present in support of Tiffany Kallio, the object of alderperson Dawn Rog’s remarks at a recent meeting.

Rhinelander Common Council Alderperson Dawn Rog listens while Alderman David Holt presented a resolution on her censure. Holt’s motion was withdrawn.

Kallio spoke up at last month’s meeting in regard to Rog’s inattentiveness while a financial presentation was being made to which Rog replied, “Oh go back to jail where you came from.” Kallio has since apologized to Mayor Frederickson and the council for speaking out of turn, explaining she had never attended a meeting before and was unaware of the rules.

Kallio was the first speaker during the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting, stating, “My name is Tiffany Kallio, and I have never been to jail, despite alderperson Dawn Rog’s outburst, made here before you on Oct. 28, 2019. Even if I had, does that make me less than a citizen? I reside in District 7.”

Kallio noted during her remarks that she had never received an apology from Rog and later added, “Ms. Rog lost her professional bearing altogether the moment she stood up and shouted at me.”

Other citizens approached the podium, calling Rog “unprofessional” and speaking of “unbecoming behaviors.” In addition, several citizens called for Rog’s resignation from the common council.

Will Nosek stated, “On behalf of those who have not been heard and those you have worked to silence, I call for your immediate and unconditional resignation from the city council.”

“When you are sitting in that alderperson’s seat, you are expected to show at least a miniscule of decorum,” Tom Barnett remarked, later adding, “This community deserves better representation.”

Toward the end of the meeting, alderman David Holt presented a resolution of censure of Dawn Rog. Alderman Steve Sauer seconded.

Holt then read the resolution in full to the council, part of which stated, “Chapter 15 of Roberts Rules of Order states to censure a member or an officer is to warn him or her that if a certain behavior continues then the next step is suspension or expulsion.”

“I would like to add, certainly we have heard from the general public in the chamber quite a bit about this, but there is one thing I would like to add to this that is very disconcerting to me and that is multiple references to the idea that this was an error of mistaken identity. That statement implies that there was another intended target, and therefore it also implies, if there was another intended target and this was a mistake, that this was retaliatory and it was premeditated, that alderperson Rog intended to retaliate against a member of the public in a meeting,” Holt added.

There was very little discussion among council members regarding the resolution because city attorney Steve Sorenson explained that there were issues with the resolution. Sorenson explained that there was nothing in the council’s by-laws supporting censure. He also noted that the only reference to Roberts Rules in the by-laws is regarding their use during council deliberations. The comment made by Rog, Sorenson stated, was made outside of any council deliberations.
After Sorenson presented a thorough explanation of the laws and rules for governing bodies as well as case studies of similar issues, Holt rescinded the motion, and there was no further discussion.

Alderperson Rog made no comment regarding the incident at Monday’s meeting.

Watch starjournalnow.com for additional coverage of the Nov. 11 Rhinelander Common Council meeting.